Type III by Paris Match is pretty good but I don’t think it’s too memorable, at least to me. It was released on 22 June, 2002 on CD, distributed through Japan by Aosis. The album has 11 tracks and a total runtime of 55 minutes and 14 seconds. For some reason my sources like to vary with the album name, Spotify says it’s type III while Wikipedia and RYM say Type III. Weirdly Discogs says TypeIII, not that all really matters. Also the album cover features a pair of feet, for some reason?
Paris Match (which also varies on spelling) is a Japanese band that was formed in 1998. At the time of Type III’s release the band was made up of Mari Mizuno (composer, arranger and leader), Mari Mizuno (vocals and lyrics), and Tai Furusawa (lyrics). It appears to me that the instruments are done by other people not particularly in the band. Tai left the band in 2007, but the band still releases music, with an album in 2025. It doesn’t look like there was ever any new members, they just shifted into a duo.
The album has a lot of jazz and city pop in it, most of the songs flow very well and don’t repeat themselves too often. All the songs have a small handful of instruments from a larger pool, but enough to see a bit of reuse across the album. My favorite songs on the album are “Deep Inside”, “Cerulean Blue”, and “Everywhere”. Some imagery I get from the music is very coastal, not too hot but like a grassy patch of land next to the water. At times I also hear office music, but not in a sterile boring way.
I don’t think the album is too memorable because it doesn’t really fluctuate in volume or even feeling during the runtime of the album. I really only feel calmness the entire time, I don’t think Paris Match really stepped out of what they knew they were good at. I think the language barrier could be a partial cause to the lack of variety but I think understanding the words would only get me so far. Overall Type III is getting a 3.56/5 because I just don’t think it did too much with 11 songs, which I’ve seen more done in much less.
